Bottle carrier



Jan. 4, 1949. p w. A. BEHRENS 2,458,133

BOTTLE CARRIER Filed Jan. 2, 1948 INVENTOR. HALTER A. BEHRE/V5 YQZMM A TTOR/VE) .togive rigidity to said side and end walls.

handle is .then provided usually by extending a Patented Jan. 4, 1949 BOTTLE CARRIER Walter 'A. Behrens, "Jamaica, N. Y., assignor .to

"The CanisterCompany, Inc., Phillips'burgN. ".L, a-corporationof New Jersey Application January 2, i1948,lSerial=N0.'217

'51 Claim.

1 i My inventionrelates to'hottle carriers, and par- .ticularly totsuchbottle carriers which areiormed -;1fr.om.inexpensivesheetlmaterial.

Such .carriers are well known and are .most commonly used in .the soft drink trade .where .it .is the current practice for vendors to furnish [them to .customers with iquantity purchases. ISince'they are .used .to.carry..a'load .of filledibo'tties, .it.is .necessary.that they .be.rigid and durable .formed-from asinglesheet .of inexpensive material such. as fiber-board with the free :ends thereof .suitably secured together, .A reinforcing element of suitable .rigid material .is then positioned .aroundandsecuredto the upperl-edges of the side and end walls and a bottom of similar material having drainage openings .formed at suitable intervals "is secured -.to .the 'lower edges of said side and end walls byturning portions ofthebottom .around thesame. The reinforcing elements and the turned over portions of "the bottom cooperate .A

narrow .rigid member between the midpoints of It'is 'obviousth'at'there'arenumerous objections "to such constructions. The rigidhandle member "extending upwardly from the sidewallspresents an obstacle'tothe proper stacking of the con- ..tainers so that when they are .shippedit isnec'essaryito utilize a greatdeal of space. If the handle is not secured tothesideand endwallsuntfl the carton is received by' the retail user, an addi- .tional ioperati'on requiring :much time and labor .is mecessary to;fixe'dly"secure the 'same 'tothe carrier. Furthen't'hehandle preventsthe'stacking of loaded carriers "in the 'vendors store. Therefore it is necessary that the vendoruse a great deal of spaceto display liis'vvares. In'addi- .tion to this; the turning over of portions'o'f the bottom so as to form a bead around the lower edgesof the side and end'wallsleavesthbottom vslightly raisedabove thelower edge of the'carrier,

' and "the portions 'Whlch secure the 'same co ---the i .2 side and end walls ...are subject to displacement by the .weight of the. bottles.

' lMy .construotionovercomes these objections to the prior .artlby providing arigid handle, member which maybe .guickly .andeas'iily attached to or .detached fromlthe end walls .of the container.

Further, the'handle .is movably secured in the attaching members so that it. may be moved upwardlyltoialposition above theltops of thebottles placediinsaiii .carriersQthus.allowing the user to .a'clequat1y,griplthe same, and also maybe moved to .a positionibelowlthe tops of thebottles placed in .the carrier .so that lthe-loaded carriers may be stacked one .upon the .other. '.In addition tothis the trniddlesection of theibo'ttom-is .drawn downwardly so that .it lies in thelsame plane as the under surface of the beaded securing portion. Thus when the loaded carriers are placed on a surffacethe middleportion .o'fthe bottom will rest on said surface and vprevent the Weight of the bottles from displacing the beadedvportion from the lower edges of .theside walls of thecarrier.

.An .object'of.my invention is .to provide a new andimpnoved bottle carrier which is'ineXpensive to produce .and economical'to ship in quantities.

Another object of my invention is to provide rsucha carrier which islm'ore durable than those heretofore produced.

A further-object of my invention is to provide a novel handle member 'for said carrier.

.A'further object of my invention'is to providea new and novel means .ior .detachably securing .saidhandle member to said carrier.

. 'A "still further object of my invention. is to provide a 'neW and'improved"bottom ..for said carrier.

These and other'ieatures 'andxobj ects of my 'invention may :be readily seen from the following description thereof inwhich reference .is made to the figures "of the accompanying drawing.

'In the drawings: Fig. i is a perspective -of i a bottle carrier em- "bodyingtheffeatures of myinventionwith a'por- "'ti'onofa side wallthereof broken away;

Fig. .2 is a'vertical sectiontaken through a. car-- rier embodying the features of my invention showing by-dotted lines the *method of securing shape-and a 'handlemeniber d extending' le'ngth "WiSeaIQngthe'median line thereof.

The body portion has side walls 6 and end walls 8 formed from a single sheet of fibrous material having its free edges secured together by the binding strip I0. A reinforcing element l2 formed from suitable sheet material such as sheet metal extends along and is folded over the upper edges of said side and end walls so as to form a bead and serves to give rigidity to the carrier construction. This reinforcing strip is further provided with corner pieces I 4 which present inwardly facing concavely curved edges for engaging the body portions of bottles placed in the container and thus diminishing rattling or other displacement of said bottles.

Secured to the bottom edges of said side and end walls is a bottom member 16 formed from a sheet of suitable rigid material such as some type of inexpensive sheet metal. Openings iii are formed at suitable intervals throughout the bottom so as to allow the liquid condensate dripping d from the sides of the bottles placed in the container to escape from the carrier.

As shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the bottom is secured to the lower edge of the side and end walls by folding a portion 20 around said lowerv edges so as to form a bead. In performing the bottom securing operation the middle portion 22 thereof is drawn downwardly so that its under surface lies flush with the under surface of the beaded-portion 2i] and said middle portion of the bottom n will lie flat upon any surface upon which the carrier is positioned. Thus when there is a load of bottles in the carrier they will not tend to push the bottom downwardly and separate the inner wall of the beaded portion from the lower edges 3 of the side and end walls or otherwise distort or weaken the container construction.

The handle 4 extends from one end wall of the carrier to the other. As shown it generally comprises a central gripping portion 24 with legs 26 to assume a position substantially above the bottles positioned in the carrier when the handle is in an operative position. Its over-all width should be such that sections of the legs 26 thereof, designated by the numeral 28, assume a position in which they engage the interior surfaces of the end walls 8 of the carrier when the handle is in its normal uncompressed position.

Portions 30 of the legs 26 adjacent the extremities thereof are inclined substantially inwardly from the sections 28, and end lugs 32 formed thereon by turning 0r bending said extremities inwardly at an angle of substantially 90 thereto. The portion 30 should not be inclined too acutely so as to prevent the expansion of the legs of the handle to the position shown in Fig. 2 of the drawing, but should be acute enough to allow the lugs 32 to extend substantially inwardly from the interior surfaces of the end walls 8 and engage the inner walls of the retaining members 34, say at an angle of 10.

The retaining members 34 are formed of generally rectangular strips of sheet metal stamped so as to present flanges 36 on either side of centrally located open ended grooves 38. In the form shown the flanges 36 are equipped with tabs!!! not necessitate the expenditure of an excessive cient depth to allow the passage of the lugs 32 therethrough, while they should not be of so eat a depth to prohibit the engagement of the lower edges of the interior walls of said grooves by said lugs after the extremities of the handle have been threaded through and allowed to assume a more or less normal unexpanded position.

It is obvious that the handle 4 may be quickly and easily attached to and detached from the side walls of the carrier. In order to attach the handles it is only necessary to spread the legs 26 of the handle 4 sufiiciently to allow the lugs 32 to be inserted into the conduit formed by the grooves 38. The handle 4 may then be pushed downwardly until the lugs 32 extend below the lower edges of said grooves. When in this position the handle 4, because of the resilient nature of its material, will attempt to assume its normal, unexpanded position, and the lugs will be forced into a position in which they extend interiorally of the lower edges of the grooves 38, and will engage the lower edges of said interior surfaces when the handle is pulled upwardly. Thus the handle may not be detached from the side walls of the carrier unless the lugs are positively displaced outwardly by the user of the carrier.

It is readily seen that this type of easily detachable handle is a vast improvement over the prior art. Thus the carriers can be shipped in quantity without their handles, and a great saving in shipping cost is effected. Further, the ease with which the handle can be attached does amount of time and labor when the carriers arrive at their destination. and are prepared for use.

As shown in Fig. 3 my new and improved means for securing the handle to the end wall allows loaded carriers to be stacked one upon. the other. Because of the fact that the handle is slidably retained in the conduits formed by the grooves 38, it may be moved downwardly so that the central gripping portion 24 lies below the tops of, the bottles 42 positioned in the carrier. When it is desired to transport the carrier and bottles from one place to the other, the handle may be moved upwardly so that the gripping portion 24 lies sufficiently above the tops of the bottles to provide a space for receiving the fingers of the user.

Various forms of my invention may be readily foreseen. Thus, as noted above, the handle may be shaped as desired, the sides of the carrier may be formed of some other type of sheet mate rial other than fibrous material, and the carrier may be sized and shaped so as to carry varying types and sizes of bottles.

The form of my invention shown and described above is for illustrative purposes only, and it is not intended that the scope of the following claim shall be limited thereby.

I claim:

In a bottle carrier having side and end walls and a bottom secured thereto, a handle member extending between said end walls, said handle member being formed from a length of resilient wire and having a central gripping portion with legs extending downwardly therefrom, said legs having portions inclined outwardly from said central portion, sections formed at an angle to said outwardly inclined portions and extending generally parallel to said end walls, and other portions inwardly inclined to said parallel sections having lugs formed on the extremities thereof at substantially right angles thereto, and means for receiving and retaining said handle secured to said end walls comprising sheets of metal having central grooves therein cooperating with said end walls to form conduits for receiving the legs of said handle member, said grooves being of SME- cient width to receive the above mentioned lugs when the resilient handle member is expanded outwardly and said lugs adapted to engage the REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,404,133 Ice July 16, 1946 2,443,985 Lampreoht June 22, 1948 

